CDC director Rochelle Walensky stood by school mask guidance and offered no indication of plans in the near future to relax the rules, according to leaked audio reportedly from a closed-door congressional committee briefing.
“The CDC provides guidance,” Walensky said in an audio recording of Tuesday’s House Energy and Commerce Committee briefing obtained by Reason.
“Our guidance currently is that masking should happen in all schools right now.”
She refused to offer a timeline for when the agency would lift its guidelines for masks in schools — even after a number of states moved to lift their mandates within the next few weeks.
Walensky faced criticism from lawmakers after she suggested that local jurisdictions didn’t have to follow the CDC’s guidance.
“I will also say that guidance is just guidance, and all of these decisions, we’ve continued to say, have to be made at the local level,” Walensky said. “As cases come down dramatically, we have deferred our guidance to the local jurisdictions.”
Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) hit back, saying “that’s not acceptable” given that many jurisdictions appeared to be waiting for the CDC to update its guidance before making firm decisions.
And Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) stressed how confusing the guidance was — in schools and more generally — as she questioned why there wasn’t a “public health consensus about this?”
“We know that all of these decisions have to be made at the jurisdictional level,” Walensky responded. “And that is exactly what I think is happening across the country in a phased way. Many different policies are rolling out.”
Walensky added: “Some are saying they’re removing masks. Now some are saying they’re removing masks at the end of the month. Some say we’re removing masks at the end of the month, but not yet for schools. And so this is really happening at the jurisdictional level. And what we’re recommending is that given right now, where we are for cases, that the masks should still stay on.”
Eshoo fired back that the CDC director’s remarks were “confusing” — and “puts a dent in CDC credibility.”
“Credibility is everything in this. Who are you going to pay attention to? So, I mean, it goes to that and I think it’s troubling. They’re making it sound as if, you know, all of these local entities, public health directors, whatever, are not paying attention to the CDC,” Eshoo said.
“What should I tell my constituents? ‘Oh, look at their website.’ I don’t think that’s a good answer, honestly.”
Walensky’s comments about masks in schools came just one day before Wednesday’s White House COVID-19 briefing, where she avoided the topic of schools altogether.
During that briefing, Walenksy hinted that the CDC could update its general mask guidance soon — but stopped short of addressing school masking.
“We are assessing the most important factors based on where we are in the pandemic, and we’ll soon put guidance in place that is relevant and encourages prevention measures when they are most needed to protect public health and our hospitals,” she said in the White House briefing.
“We want to give people a break from things like mask-wearing, when these metrics are better, and then have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen.
“If and when we update our guidance, we will communicate that clearly, and it will be based on the data and the science.”
